Hamilton Confident in Fast Ferrari Adaptation

Lewis Hamilton insists he won’t need six months to adapt to Ferrari, despite major differences from Mercedes, as he prepares for 2025.

Lewis Hamilton admits that the speed at which he adapts to his new environment at Ferrari, after 12 years with Mercedes F1, will be key to his progress and ability to perform quickly in red.

“It’s incredibly crucial,” Hamilton responded. “You try to learn as much as possible, as quickly as possible. I’m very, very fortunate to have the experience of switching teams when I moved to Mercedes, and obviously at a very different time in my life.”

“But I did the best I could with what I knew back then. Fortunately, today, I have even more experience and I think I’m able to accelerate that process even further. But the learning curve is very, very steep. It’s a massive organization.”

“They do things completely differently from what I’ve been used to over the past 10 years, the past 12 years, for example. So, yes, I mean, I don’t know how much you can shorten the process. You still have to build the wall brick by brick, and that’s what we’re doing.”

“But I feel like we’ve already started building a strong foundation of trust, in terms of working processes and practices. I feel like… it won’t take six months to learn how the team operates. I feel like we’re further along than what I’ve experienced in the past.”

The seven-time world champion wasn’t surprised by the scale of the learning process: “I expected it to be intense. That’s exactly what happened, and even more so, especially with such a short pre-season testing period.”

“Fortunately, it has been exciting because we’ve had more time on track. I’m not particularly used to testing, but it was fun to get in the car and experience this completely new feeling of the car and the engine.”

“The steering wheel has more buttons and lights than the one I had in the past! Putting everything in place so that by the time we get to the first race, the first six months won’t be spent fine-tuning the car. We will be ready.”

Hamilton even feels like he’s starting a new career, given how much of a fresh beginning this is for him: “To be honest, it reminds me of my first Grand Prix in Melbourne. My first Grand Prix in 2007.”

“It’s that kind of excitement in the preparation, since it’s the first time with Ferrari. They obviously finished last season very strong. They finished last season very strong, with second place in the constructors’ championship.”

“We have no illusions, there’s a lot of work ahead. It’s going to be very, very tight between all these top cars and teams, so we’re trying to be diligent, and everyone is very calm and focused.”

“Everyone believes that each of us can improve, and we’re all sharpening our tools to give our best. But as I said, the energy is there, the motivation is there, and even more so, the dedication is there and even more so, which is great to see.”